Sunset Beyond Aetheria
by Aeon Scribe
Summary: An Argonian woman commits an atrocity and is greeted in the dead of night by the Dark Brotherhood's scout, Lucien Lachance. She falls and falls hard, but she still has an important mission to accomplish. Lucien simply adds fire to her already burning life. This is a story about how I think my main character of Oblivion would have handled the Dark Brotherhood quests as well as DLC.


Nahrii woke with a start, her tail flailing slightly to the side as she struggled to stand, feeling oddly cold. "You sleep rather soundly for a murderer. That is good. You'll need a clear conscience for what I am about to propose," Nahrii looked over at the man before her, surprised at his appearance as he was dressed in a black robe and hood, but remained silent. "You prefer silence then? As do I, Dear Child. As do I. Odd then, is it not, that I come to you as Speaker. I am Lucien Lachance, Speaker for the Dark Brotherhood," Nahrii chose to ignore everything else the man said, hearing something about joining the Dark Brotherhood and killing a man named Rufio. She remained silent the entire time, receiving her orders and a special dagger without so much as a blink, gazing intently at the Breton before her. Nahrii waited for the man to leave before going to the Inn of Ill Omen and carrying out her orders swiftly and as Rufio slept. Unsure of what to do next, the Argonian looted the old man's body and turned, shocked to see Lucien Lachance standing directly in front of her. "I see Rufio lies dead in a pool of his own blood. Well done, Dear Sister. You are now a part of our family, the Dark Brotherhood. The slaying of Rufio was a covenant. The manner of execution, your signature. Rufio's blood, the ink," Nahrii listened silently, nodding her orders to go to the Cheydinhal sanctuary before leaving as soon as the dark man vanished into thin air. Walking out she noted simply that it was raining and began the long trek to the sanctuary in Cheydinhal.

"What is the color of Night?" the door asked in a raspy voice. In no way unnerved by this oddity, Nahrii answered as she had been told to. "Sanguine, My Brother." The door opened at her words and she proceeded inside only to be greeted by a sister in both race and brotherhood. Ocheeva greeted her as she did all new recruits and directed her to Vicente Valtieri, saying he would assign all contracts. Nahrii nodded and went to find the man, being greeted with equal love by Taelindril and Gogron gro-Bolmog. Smiling, she proceeded down the stairs after a brief conversation with those two believing she was going to like them quite a bit. As she stepped off the last stone, she was roughly bumped into by a Khajiit that scoffed at her. As she turned to speak to him, he interrupted her. "If it isn't the newest member of the family. Let's get one thing straight - the Tenets prevent me from killing you. But I don't have to like you. I'll sell you equipment, but only because Ocheeva is making me. This family doesn't need any... outsiders." Having said that, the male walked off, leaving Nahrii alone and rather angered, thirsting for fresh blood but knowing she too was bound by the tenets now as well. Instead of causing any unnecessary fighting, she proceeded lower in search of her brother, Vicente. Coming to a large door, she tapped lightly, as was her way of knocking, and awaited the response of "Come in," before entering. She noticed that the room was very dimly lit, illuminated only by a single candle on a desk next to a stone table. Seated at the desk was a pale man with red eyes and a gaunt face, two sharp fangs barely visible within his mouth. Nahrii approached the man hesitantly, warming up to him almost immediately from his kind words, despite his appearance and affliction as a vampire. She was given her first contract, slaying the captain of the Marie Elena. Immediately, she set out to do the job.

Lucien Lachance watched from a safe distance as the Argonian female proceeded through the ranks of the Dark Brotherhood with ease, amazed at both her methods of killing and the passion with which she killed. Come to think of it, he could not remember the last time anyone, other than himself and Vicente, had ever advanced so quickly. Within a matter of two weeks she was already to the position of Assassin, making him very proud. He knew, though, that tensions in the Brotherhood were growing high as he had heard from the urgency during the last meeting Arquen had held. He had never expected that their Mother, their sweet, sweet Mother, would order for a Purification to be performed, though. He sighed and knew he had no choice. The others could not be trusted and someone had to kill them that the Black Hand knew was not a traitor. But, the only candidate for such a task seemed to be the Argonian he had become fond of and he doubted she would warm up to the idea. He had watched the way she interacted with her family and had believed, by these observations, that she had been abandoned by her own or that they had been killed. As it was, she was all alone in the world with only the current members of the Cheydinhal Sanctuary as her family. It pained him, but he knew she would have to slaughter them. And so, with a heavy heart for his sister, he sent the message to her through Ocheeva.

Nahrii looked at her orders and smiled lightly to herself. Lucien wanted to see her for some reason, but this did not trouble her. In fact, if anything it elated her. She had been summoned by her superior, to his home, to receive some sort of very special contract which meant he must see her potential as a brutal assassin. With thoughts of the handsome man in her mind, Nahrii walked out of the town and around the wall until she reached the fort that housed said male. She paused before entering, realizing there would most likely be challenges to face, but she knew there was always a back door in these old forts, and so, with that thought in mind, she sought out this cheat, so to speak; she found it easily. Within the trunk of a large tree just beside the fort, there was a trapdoor; with a toothy grin, she lifted it and entered Lucien's domain.

Lucien looked up at the sound of his trapdoor opening and readied his blade, fearing a guard or bandit may have found his hiding place, but relaxed as soon as he saw the scaled tail of his soon-to-be Silencer descending into the room. "I see you found my back door," he said, putting his blade away as he offered a hand when the Argonian fell to the ground, having slipped off his ladder's final rung. She accepted and stood, smiling rather shyly as a light pink tint dusted her cheek scales; his stomach turned painfully. This was going to be very difficult. "Nahrii, you have demonstrated ruthlessness and a lack of remorse and mercy that has not been seen in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary in many years. It is for this reason that you have been chosen by the Black Hand specifically for a very special task known as Purification," as was expected, she remained silent and watchful, listening intently for his explanation of what the Purification required. "The Night Mother herself has told us what must be done and, regardless of any emotions that could get in the way, this contract must be fulfilled. For the safety and prosperity of the Dark Brotherhood itself. Nahrii, you must kill everyone in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary," the look on the woman's face was one that would melt the most frigid heart and force them to try to comfort her. It was one that combined pain, sorrow, frustration, anger, disbelief, fear, hatred, nervousness, confusion, and rage all into one mask of uncertainty that made Lucien's cold heart clench. "But… they are our family… the tenets, they forbid the murder of our family. I cannot, the tenets protect them from such slaughter!" Nahrii finally spoke, her first words ever to the Speaker stinging spitefully. "The tenets are no longer in effect. These orders come directly from the Night Mother and the Dread Father themselves and are not to be ignored. You have been specifically chosen for this honor and you must," Nahrii interrupted furiously. "I won't do it! Dread Father and Night Mother be damned to the deepest pits of Oblivion, I WILL NOT KILL MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!"She screamed, tears flowing from her blood red eyes as she yelled at the hooded man, no longer caring if she was smitten for uttering such atrocities and obscenities about their precious mother and glorious father. Lucien was at a loss for words. Yes, he had expected for an outburst to ensue after hearing such devastating news, but to go so far as to blaspheme against not only the Night Mother but their dearest Dread Father as well; such was punishable only by death! "Nahrii, please, control yourself," he begged, going forward to try to calm the Argonian by wrapping his arms around her. "Don't tell me how I am to behave, Lucien. I will scream and cry if I so desire and I will curse the wretched woman known as my mother if she dares to think I would willingly murder the only family I have ever known. Let go of me, you bastard! Release me!" she yelled before her claws connected with the man's chest, opening the skin to form four large gashes going diagonally from his left shoulder down. Lucien winced from the pain and did as he was told, praying to the Dread Father not to harm her, entreating to him that she was simply not in her right mind.

Seeing his blood, Nahrii returned to her senses and immediately looked worried, searching the room for something to staunch the bleeding and cleanse it. "I'm sorry, Lucien. I'm sorry," she muttered over and over as she ran around, collecting herbs and gauze before sitting before him on his bed and tending to his injuries. Lucien was silent as she patched him up, knowing the pain she must be going through was immense and the indecisiveness that was combating with logic within her mind was as well; finally she spoke. "I will do it. But not for the glory of the Dark Brotherhood or in the name of the Dread Father or Night Mother. I will do this atrocity in your name and swear my service only to you," she said, her head hung low as she wrapped gauze around her claws absently, small tears running down her cheeks. Lucien gently lifted her face and, acting on impulse, seized her lips in a gentle kiss, his hand softly stroking the scales on her throat. Nahrii closed her eyes and kissed back, swiftly warming to the feeling of affection, regardless of how alien it felt to her. Though he honestly wished to make the encounter more intimate between the two of them, Lucien pulled back and opted instead to stroke the female's cheek lightly. "You have work to do. Return to me when all of our family members in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary lie dead. Here, take these," he handed her an apple and a scroll. "The apple is poisoned and the scroll will summon the angered spirit of your first murder; Rufio. I wish you luck, dear one," Nahrii accepted the items and left, none too eager for this contract to commence.

As she entered the sanctuary, Nahrii's stomach twisted in knots at the tranquil sight of her family. They were all unaware of the danger they were in. Pulling out her apple, the young Argonian began walking toward the orc, not wanting to face him in hand to hand combat. "Gogron? I got something for you while I was out. I thought you might be hungry after the Donahue contract," Nahrii said innocently as she held out the apple for the larger of the two; he smiled. "Thanks, sister. I actually am pretty hungry! Too bad I couldn't stay for the feast, but the guards were coming and I had to run before I even got to try any of the roast mutton!" "What a shame. Well, it's no regal desert, but it's all I could find. I hope you like it. Do excuse me. I need to go see Vicente for Sir Lucien," she said as she began to back away, not wanting to see the betrayal in his eyes after he took the first bite. "Be seeing you!" she closed the large doors and headed for Taelindril next. She decided to deal with her quietly, sneaking up behind her and quickly stabbing her directly in the heart while simultaneously slitting her throat, not wanting her to suffer for long. Choking back a sob, Nahrii continued and counted off; two down, five to go. She walked down the hall until she encountered the Khajiit that was so cruel to her. He stopped her and apologized for his rude behavior before asking to be friends; her heart ached. "Of course," she replied, giving a false smile before falling into sneak mode when he walked off. She pulled out her bow and ended it quickly. Next was Ocheeva. She was in her usual seat reading a book and was easily snuck upon and just as easily taken out with a single arrow to the heart. "Sister have you seen, Marie?" Tiennava asked as he stepped into the room, stopping in surprise when he saw what Nahrii had done. "What!? Sister, how could you?" in a blind rage the male ran forward and attacked. Nahrii pulled out her own blade and made quick work of him, stabbing him through the heart to end his suffering swiftly. "I am so sorry. Please forgive me," the Argonian woman begged as she cried, the blood of her family covering her front. She stood after she had recomposed herself, her sobs now mere sniffles; a thud echoed from behind her. She twirled around to see Marie Antoinette standing in the doorway, dumbstruck and the groceries on the ground at her feet. Nahrii quickly pulled out her bow and fired an arrow into the woman's heart, ending her life immediately. Now all that was left was the peacefully sleeping Vicente, the final kill that would serve to destroy what little bit of humanity remained within the young assassin. She entered his room and looked down at his sleeping form before deciding she would rather give him the dignity of being able to defend himself. "Vicente, wake up. I need to speak with you," she coaxed gently until the vampire stood yawning before her. "Yes? What did you need, Nahrii?" he asked, smiling lightly at her, thinking the blood painting her suit was from a recent contract and not their family. "I am so sorry Vicente. I have to kill you. But I am not a coward. I will not sneak to kill you. You deserve the right to defend yourself. Please, pick up a weapon so we may fight and may the better man win. By Hircine, I pray you win," Nahrii said as she drew her blade, patiently waiting for the surprised man to choose a weapon. He picked up an enchanted sword and the two battled fiercely, Vicente eventually falling to the ground with a large gash adorning his middle. "I am sorry, brother. Please forgive me, for I am simply the messenger," at these words, the vampire finally seemed to understand and bowed his head, obediently accepting his death; Nahrii struck quickly. Sobs wracked the woman's frame as she fell to the ground, clutching the body of the man she loved nearly as much as Lucien himself, crying against his bleeding form. After many tears and a killer headache, Nahrii fell into a deep sleep, her grip on Vicente never loosening for a moment.

"Hey, Hircine. Isn't that a descendant of one of your followers? The Morrowindian one?" the Daedric Prince of thieves asked the mighty hunter as she gazed into her special eye. The masculine male rolled over in their bed, his arm wrapping around the female Prince's waist as he looked into her orb and smiled. "Yes, that is. I believe her name was Nariel or Nana or something like that. Why do you ask?" "She looks rather troubled. I mean, she's clutching the corpse of a vampire for our sake! Do you think we should do something? I mean, she has done a service for me, at least. Has she done anything for you?" Hircine shook his head, one of his horns lightly tapping the headboard. "She's not strong enough for me just yet. But, what has she done for you?" Nocturnal smiled lightly. "She returned my eye to me, something I rewarded her for with my skeleton key. Don't you think we should help her? She could be a valuable asset to us. She was the hero that assisted in the defeat of Mehrunes Dagon," "Really? I suppose we could. Why don't we talk to Sheogorath about doing something? He seems to be able to find loopholes in our contracts quite easily," Nocturnal placed her eye on the bedside table and rolled over, kissing Hircine's lips with a smile. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. I'll send Sneak to summon Haskill," the female Prince said before sending out one of her crows.

Nahrii woke with a groan, her head throbbing painfully from all the tears she had shed. She looked down at Vicente's body and felt her heart go numb, no longer able to truly feel anything anymore. All she felt was her devotion for Lucien now as it was all that mattered. With a sigh, she lifted Vicente's body and carefully placed it on the stone slab he kept in his room, covering his hands over his wound to make him look more peaceful before she took her leave.

Two weeks later

Hircine and Nocturnal spoke to the Daedric Prince of madness about helping their follower until he finally proposed a somewhat sane idea. "Look, I've got the Greymarch coming up soon and I just don't have time to deal with puny mortals! Well, not unless this one isn't so puny and could get something done for me!" he exclaimed thoughtfully. "And what would that be?" Hircine asked bluntly. "If your little follower was able to stop the Greymarch from happening, I could give her something that would definitely help her out. But, she'll probably die. All the others died trying. Then again, she might succeed if she happened to be a right basket full of cases! Or was it a casket full of bases? I can never remember…" Sheogorath looked off absently. "Alright, but how could we get her here to prevent the Greymarch? We aren't allowed to open portals into the mortal realm," Nocturnal said exasperatedly; the Mad God grinned wickedly. "We aren't allowed to open portals that pose a threat or cause harm to the immediate area they're placed in. If I were to open up a harmless portal inviting people into my realm in the middle of the Niben," Hircine finished his sentence. "Then there would be nothing that breaks our treaty. Even as the Prince of Madness, you're still the most intelligent of us all. Well, next to Hermaeus Mora, of course," the huntsman said before they all laughed.

Nahrii struck down the elf that stood before the statue of the Lucky Old Lady before someone twirled her around and glared at her angrily. "What have you done? You've just killed the Listener!" Nahrii was at a loss for words as her lover yelled at her furiously, her eyes widening until his lit with the understanding that she didn't know what she had been doing. "Nahrii, you've been killing off all the members of the Black Hand. And you just killed the listener himself," Nahrii listened to what she had to do to right her wrongs, wanting Lucien to stay safe. "I will be waiting at Applewatch, the farm where you killed the old Draconis woman," as he went to leave, Nahrii stopped him, her claws digging into his sleeve. "No. Stay somewhere else. Stay somewhere safer. Please, hide in the hall of the Thieves Guild. I am the Grey Fox, I can command them to protect you!" she begged in fear for his safety. Lucien captured her lips in a loving kiss, holding her close to quell her fears. "It's alright. I will be fine," Nahrii looked around desperately, her eyes falling on her home. "Will you do me one thing before you go?" "What is it you desire, my Silencer?" "Come and stay in my home until the morning. It is unsafe to travel the roads at night," Lucien looked torn, but ultimately sighed and nodded, allowing himself to be led to the large shack the Argonian called her Bravil home. Feeling this may be the last time she would ever see her love, Nahrii put out quite a bit, wearing her lowest cut dress and preparing a beautiful, candle-lit meal for him. Finally, when she began to lick cream off her fingers at desert, Lucien snapped and lunged forward, seizing her lips and working to remove her clothes. She moaned and began pulling off his robes as well until he stood before her in his naked glory, his length erect and leaking. She quickly led him to her bed and removed her remaining underclothes, displaying her large breasts and scaled nipples which he swiftly ravished to the point of hardness. He slowly prepared her entrance, opening it for his thick erection while staring into her eyes the whole time, leaning in for a kiss before removing his fingers and replacing them with his manhood. The two moaned, both loving the feeling of the other until Lucien began to move, Nahrii's eyes rolling to the back of her head from such immense pleasure. It did not take long before the inexperienced Argonian came, her tightening passage milking her lover dry as he collapsed next to her, panting. "I love you, Lucien. Please, be safe," the woman muttered before she fell asleep, her lover sleeping with her until daybreak. He quietly left, not wishing to disturb her restless slumber.

Nahrii ran as swiftly as she could, the head of the traitor's mother held in her satchel as she approached the farm in which Lucien was hiding. Opening the door she nearly screamed, her eyes watering at the sight of the mangled corpse of her one and only love. At the opening of the door, an elf approached the Argonian, a wide smile plastered across her features. She explained that she and the rest of the Black Hand had ambushed Lucien and mercilessly slaughtered him, torturing him to death. In her fury, Nahrii very nearly struck the damned woman, but held back as she knew Lucien would not have wanted her to be vengeful against the Dark Brotherhood. As soon as she had finished, Nahrii walked to the center of the room and dropped the head receiving the reaction she wanted from the traitor; surprise and fear. She followed all of them to the crypt of the Night Mother, keeping a close eye on Mathieu Bellamont, the true traitor. After the mother had been summoned and the man attacked, Nahrii dove at him in fury, not even bothering with her blade. Using her deadly claws, she ripped and sliced through first his armor, then his flesh, not stopping until she had clawed right through to the rocks beneath his wretched carcass. She spat on his corpse, kicking it across the room and into one of the fires lit around the tomb. "Child, I have not seen such ferocity in millennia. You are truly to be admired, avenging your lover so fully and angrily," Nahrii turned on the ghostly woman, her eyes narrowing. "Keep your damned mouth shut, vile woman. You could have saved him, but you chose not to. If I could, I would kill you as well. And journey into Sithis' realm to smite him with the very claws I just killed Bellamont with," "Yes. That is why Sithis and I love you so. That ferocity and rage is the reason we have chosen you as our Listener," the Argonian scoffed. "Give the honor to my love's murderer before I kill her and I will leave. I don't want to have anything else to do with you or your damned Brotherhood anymore," the Night Mother's expression hardened, but she complied, knowing the Divines themselves as well as a few Daedra were on the lizard's side. Nahrii left, going back to the farm to lay her precious Lucien to rest before wandering around in search of some other reason to live.

"Now?" "Now," the portal into the Shivering Isles was activated, placing itself directly into the center of the Niben Bay especially for the Argonian woman the Daedric Princes wished to assist. Hircine, Nocturnal, and Sheogorath all watched in glee as adventurers dared to enter the deadly realm of the Mad God, each eagerly awaiting the time when their chosen follower would make her presence known in the realm.

"Have you heard of that strange door that opened up in the middle of the Niben?" "It just popped up in the dead of the night, I heard," "Yeah. One day it wasn't there and the next it was!" "Strange happenings," strange indeed, Nahrii thought to herself as she downed another pint of mead. She listened with little interest to the stories and news brought by the sailors and the drunk within the tavern at the Anvil docks. There was never any news of too much interest, but this odd door they spoke of sounded promising. Perhaps a dungeon or plane of Oblivion belonging to one of the Daedric Princes? The Argonian believed she should investigate. "Maybe after another pint…" she said to herself absently, calling the tavern wench over to fulfill her wish. As she was drinking, an Imperial was thrown at her as a result of his drunken words about another's wife; mead spilled all over her Ebony armor. Snarling angrily, she stood and violently punched the man to the ground, seeing blood and a few teeth fall from his mouth before wandering drunkenly over to the sailors that had been talking about the strange door. "Where is it?" she asked the Nord men, eyes glazed over but focused. "Where is what?" one of them asked, surprised by her presence. "The door you were talking about. Tell me where it is. I want to go inside," Nahrii slurred angrily. "Uh, it's just east of Bravil's gates," with the information she needed, Nahrii picked up her sword and headed toward the gate at her own steady pace.

Nahrii arrived at the gate to Bravil in two days, making great time in her mind. In the distance, she could see a faint blue light radiating from a small island in the middle of the bay; she sighed. The Argonian thanked the Divines of her blessing, the ability to breathe underwater, before swimming to the island rather quickly. She stood on one of the paths leading up to the door and shook her scales, water dripping off her splendid black armor as she looked at the odd door in the shape of three faces. As she approached the entrance a guard stopped her and explained he was here to prevent anything from coming out and getting into the city. "But I'm not going to stop you from going in if you really want to," he said after noting the look of bloodlust in the woman's eyes.


End file.
